In summary, this is what is all about:
- 1,500 investors here reportedly poured S$70m into Brazil housing projects linked to UK-based company EcoHouse.
- EcoHouse is a property developer claiming to be working with the Brazilian government on a social housing programme.
- Yesterday, the Brazilian Embassy said that its government had no dealings with the company EcoHouse.
- EcoHouse, which has abruptly shut down its Suntec offices, is neither affiliated with the Brazilian national housing programme nor registered as a partner of its state-owned bank.
- Some investors have begun legal action against EcoHouse to recover their capital investments, which amounted to a minimum of £23,000 (S$47,810) per unit.
- EcoHouse had promised a 20 per cent fixed rate of return for a 12-month investment contract, but many investors said they have not received their returns or their capital despite their contracts reaching maturity.
- The company was recently put on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Investor Alert List, which lists unregulated companies that may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or authorised by the MAS.
- Reports have been filed against the company with the police and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD). On whether EcoHouse is under probe, a CAD spokesman would only say: “It is inappropriate to comment on police investigations, if any.”
- In response to TODAY’s queries sent on Tuesday, EcoHouse chief operations officer Deen Bissessar said yesterday that the closure of its offices in Suntec Tower 2 was part of measures to “consolidate into our Brazil operation and managing global affairs from our global headquarters in London”.
- For companies regulated by the MAS, investors could seek redress at the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre. However, such a recourse is not available for EcoHouse investors.
- Consumer watchdog CASE advised consumers to be mindful of the high risk involved when investing in overseas properties. CASE executive director Seah Seng Choon pointed out that the laws in other countries are different from Singapore’s and investors may not enjoy the same degree of protection. “Seeking redress in the event of dispute can be cumbersome and in most cases consumers are not able to get their money back,” he said.
You can read the full details at this URL.
I am sure this is definitely NOT the first time and will not be the last!
So, investors better keep their eyes wide open!
Singaporeans are so used to the strong safety, security, and protection measures of investing and doing businesses in Singapore that they have forgotten about all these when dealing with overseas investment and businesses!
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